


je t'aime

by killingthestalker



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Asshole Grisha Yeager, Bottom Eren Yeager, Bullied Eren Yeager, College Student Eren Yeager, Confessions, Crying Eren Yeager, Depression, Dominant Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Drunken Confessions, Drunken Flirting, Drunken Kissing, Eren Has a Secret, Eren Yeager Has Issues, Eren draws, Eren is a masochist, Eren writes poems, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, First Dates, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Isabel and Levi are siblings, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Is a Sweetheart, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Swears, Levi Is Bad At Feelings, Levi plays the Piano, Levi plays the guitar, Levi sings, M/M, Nonbinary Hange Zoë, Older Mikasa Ackerman, Past Furlan Church/Levi-Relationship, Petra is a sweetheart, Pining Eren Yeager, Praise Kink, Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Protective Mikasa Ackerman, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Seme Levi, Slow Build, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Top Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Uke Eren Yeager, Verbal Abuse, Virgin Eren Yeager, eren is depressed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2018-11-22 01:45:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11369979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killingthestalker/pseuds/killingthestalker
Summary: Levi met Eren at a bridge. He was there to eat his lunch. Eren was there to end his life.Ever since their first encounter, both of their lives change gradually.





	1. Notes

**Author's Note:**

> before I start;
> 
> this story contains suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, self-harm and you might be triggered. i do not encourage any of these subjects in any ways, and please, if you ever feel down and don't know what to do, try to talk to someone! also, you can always come to me to talk <3
> 
> I do not own Shingeki No Kyojin/Attack on titan in any ways. All rights go to the owner.

Levi hummed softly, in time with the music, as he drove down the earthy road. Nearby was a bridge fewer people knew of. It wasn't very long, and not very wide either, but it was in the middle of a forest, and Levi loved coming there.

He had one hour off from his shift, and he gladly used that time to drive to this place, even if it meant he could only sit on the bridge for fifteen minutes, if he wanted to make it back in time.

Levi was now midway in the forest, meaning he was close to the bridge. He looked next to him, on the passenger's seat and his eyes landed on the packed sandwich and his thermos, filled with earl grey tea.  A small but rare smile crept up his face as he reached the bridge.

However, that smile faltered as he saw someone was already sitting there.

Because the woods had many hills, you had to drive all the way up to get to the bridge. Under the bridge was a huge river, swirling and roaring violently. It was a beautiful sight, really.

The river was about 30 feet below the bridge, which made it deadly if you fell in. Levi didn't have any experience with that, but you didn't have to be a genius to realise that.

Levi stopped his car, about 15 feet away from the person sitting there. Levi was quite sure it was a boy, although he was sitting with his back turned to him. He was tall, even as he sat and was bend over slightly, cross legged. He was writing something down, Levi realised as the boy, his hoodie slightly sliding off his head, turned around stuffed the pencil he was holding in the backpack behind him.

Levi tilted his head slightly, narrowing his eyes. The boy was now facing him, but he couldn't see him clearly as several bangs hung in front of his eyes. He could see, when the boy's sleeve was slightly pulled back, tanned, caramel coloured skin. The boy clearly didn't hear the soft grunts of Levi's car as he pinned a piece of paper on his backpack.

The bridge was made of brick, thick but not very high. About hip-length, for the average people. Levi usually hopped on it, enjoying the water streaming below him. One of those brick was a bit loose, causing a small crack appearing in it. The boy knew that as well as Levi did, because he pinned his backpack on the edge of it, having to slightly wiggle it in to make if stay. Then, the boy took his hoodie off, and tossed it on the edge of the bridge, next to the backpack. Levi sucked in a breath at the sight of the boy's face. He had his eyes closed, lips slightly parted as Levi could see his chest going up and down, meaning he took a deep breath.

He turned his body slightly and got up, so that Levi could see his side figure now. The boy spread his arms. Wait. Wait a minute.

Levi's body started to move. He locked his car, yanked the door open and saw the boy leaning forward. "Hey! What the fuck do you think you are doing?" Levi blurted out in shock, climbing on the bridge next to the boy in seconds, grabbing his arm tightly. The boy turned to him slowly, eyes fluttering open. Levi's lips parted slightly. The brat had beautifully coloured eyes;. Honestly, he had never seen eyes like this before. They were both unusually green-turquoise.

Levi and the boy stared at each other; the wind making the chocolate brown locks of the boy opposite of Levi twirl around. "Let go of me." The boy said, his voice cracking at the end, full of emotion. Levi looked him in the eye. The brat looked vulnerable with one black eye and dried blood on his chin, eyes glossy. "Let go." He repeated, his voice calmer and controlled, but still slightly shaking.

"No." When Levi spoke, the boy's jaw clenched, and tears sprung in his eyes. "Let go of me." His voice broke, and he tried to pull away, but failed as Levi's grip was strong. "I can't let you jump." He continued, stepping closer to the boy. Levi's right side was facing the river, and if possible, he felt tiny droplets of water on the back of his hand. "Let's get off the bridge now." He said slowly, moving left, to the side of the road.

"I want to jump." The boy said firmly.

"Just let me jump already!" He broke down in sobs, his free arm snapping to the front of his face, as if he was defending himself. Levi's shoulders slumped, but he didn't loosen the grip on the boy's upper arm. “I’m not going to let you jump, okay? I can’t do that. So please, let’s get off here so I can take you somewhere safe.” The older said. The boy looked young, possibly 18 or 19 years old. The boy said nothing, sniffing quietly as he looked away, at the water, and then back at the road.

"Come on." He said softly, taking a step closer to gently lead the boy in front of him to the road. He hoped off himself too, looking at the stranger. "What's your name?" He asked. "Eren." The boy replied, wiping away his tears. “Okay. Eren, where do you live? I am bringing you back home.” Levi said, his tone firm, as if he didn’t want an argument about it.

“Y-you can just drop me off somewhere.” The boy- Eren said, avoiding the question. Eren grabbed his backpack, but before Levi could look at the note pinned on it, he slung it over his shoulder. “Alright. Is it okay if I drop you off near my work? I have to go back by now.” Levi suggested, walking over to his car, quiet footsteps following him as he heard a mumble in agreement. “I am Levi, by the way.” Levi said as he fastened his seatbelt. Eren did so too and looked at Levi, who had stuck his hand out.

With a brief nod, the boy took his hand, which felt surprisingly warm to Levi. However, he let go almost instantly, and his gaze shifted over to the window.

The trip was in complete silence, Levi glanced at Eren a few times, but the brat didn’t seem to be _there._ He was lost in his own thoughts, eyes fixed on the trees outside. He was extremely skinny; thin would be a better use of words, as his arms and legs looked like sticks. Levi knew he was skinny himself too, but he was quite muscled, and he bet you could count Eren’s ribs under his hoodie. His eyes looked, apart from the beautiful golden and turquoise orbs, hollow and dull. They left the woods now, driving up the paved road.

“You should’ve let me jump.” Eren said suddenly, his voice sounding exhausted. Levi’s head snapped to the side, eyeing the boy next to him. Levi opened his mouth, but closed it after a while. “Everyone’s sick of me.” He continued, softly banging his head against the window it was leaning against. “So I wanted to get rid of this,” Eren formed his hand in a fist and pressed it against his chest, right above his heart. “ache in my heart.” He finished, resting his head against the window as he continued to look out of the window.

 _Say something!_ A voice in Levi’s voice scolded, but he was at a loss of words. He focused on driving, a silence pressing on them. “S’okay, though. I’m used to it.” Eren murmured, fiddling with the zipper of hoodie absent-minded. Levi swallowed. _Fucking say something, dick!_ “That sounds awful.” He commented, internally cursing himself for such lame words to say to a boy in a situation like this. Eren didn’t reply to this, instead closed his eyes before fluttering them open. Levi looked back at the road and noticed they were near his work. Eren zipped the hoodie all the way up, even though it was only fall, and those weren’t extremely cold in Sina. Then, he tugged it over his head, slightly hanging in front of his eyes and he looked at his feet.

“We’re here.” Levi said with a soft hum in his throat. Eren nodded stiffly, and got up immediately, unfastening his seatbelt, all in one movement. Levi got out too, closing the door of the car behind him. He cocked his head to the side as Eren got out too, slightly bending due to his height. Eren bowed slightly. “Thanks for the ride.” He mumbled, looking everywhere but Levi’s eyes. “No problem.” Levi replied quietly, looking at Eren. The younger boy looked up again, and looked around. “Where are we?” he narrowed his eyes slightly as he let his eyes glide over all the shops and cafés. “One of the side streets of square Maria.” Levi said. “Oh.” Suddenly, Eren looked slightly disturbed, and he looked away. “Um, so I have to go back to work.” Levi lifted his hand and his thumb pointed behind him. “Where do you work?” Eren asked, tilting his head slightly. “Oh. There.” Levi spun around and pointed at a cute looking coffee shop. “The Legion?” Eren asked, frowning slightly as he tried to read the words on the chalk board in front of the café. It looked cosy, warm, and Eren could smell the cinnamon buns from here.

“Thank you.” Eren said again, taking a step backwards, as if he was trying to hint he was going to leave. “It’s okay, brat.” Levi nodded and the corners of his lips turned upwards slightly. “Bye.” Was all Eren said before he turned around, swung his backpack over both of his shoulders and walked away. “Eren,” Levi said, voice slightly raised. Eren stopped dead in his tracks, but didn’t turn around. “Stay safe.” The older added.

Eren frowned slightly to himself, then disappeared into the crowd. He had a new problem now; making up excuses for being late. He was sure Mikasa was already home, and probably worried sick. “I’m dead.” He murmured, his left hand lifting to stop a cab. Then, he realised he wouldn’t mind that at all.

***

“You’re late because you prevented someone from committing suicide?” Hange said in disbelief, their mouth slightly agape. “Yes. Believe it or not.” Levi clenched his jaw and slipped on his working clothes. “No, I believe you. But wow, that’s intense.” They sighed deeply, and toyed with her hair. “Levi, dear, you’re back.” There was Petra, a soft smile on her face as she stuck her head around the corner.

“Yup.” He nodded, shooting her an apologetic look. “Shorty saved someone.” Hange said, their finger shooting in the air, wiggling furiously. “Don’t say it so loudly!” Levi hissed, the soft expression in his eyes shifting into a deadly scowl. “It’s really not funny, Hange.” He said seriously, crossing his arms. “Alright, alright. Let’s go back to work.” Hange rolled their eyes and dragged Levi with them, leaving the back room and to the front. Levi couldn’t keep his focus on working. Instead, his mind kept flashing images of the previous events in his mind like a slideshow. He felt an uneasy feeling settling in the bottom of his stomach and couldn’t help but worry slightly about the strange boy he just met.

***

“I’m home.” Eren slammed the door shut extra loudly. “Eren!” the door of the hallway flew open, and a girl literally _stormed_ towards him, attacking him with a hug. “Ow, Mikasa!” Eren murmured quietly, his head hitting the back of the wall. “Where on earth _were_ you? I’ve tried to call you, but you left your phone home.” Mikasa scolded him, sticking her hand out to pull her brother up.

Well, technically they weren’t related by blood, but Grisha adopted her shortly after Eren’s mother died, and they’ve always been together since. Now, they moved out and lived in a small apartment in Sina, just below a gym, where Mikasa went on a daily base. She was a professional boxer, and when she was at the highest of her boxing class, and chose to officially participate in competitions.

That was reason number one she didn’t know about Eren’s problems at school.

She had a lot of boxing competitions now, and was gone most of the times. Eren insisted she did, because she was incredibly good and she obviously loved doing it. And he knew she had a thing for her manager, Annie Leonhart, although she denied that fiercely. “Sorry.” Eren merely said, thankfully gripping Mikasa’s hand to lift himself up. “And what’s with that piece of paper?” Mikasa reached for his backpack, and Eren froze. “Nothing.” Panic obviously laced through his voice, and he ripped it off his backpack quickly, stuffing it in the pocket of his hoodie. Mikasa frowned slightly. “Well, dinner’s ready. Oh, before I forget; call Armin back, he’s worried about you.” The raven-haired girl said with a shrug. Eren’s heart hammered in his chest as she left him alone in the hallway, and with effort, he walked a bit more, eventually going in the room on the left. He thankfully breathed in the scent of ink and coffee, a combination of Eren’s favourite things.

He let his backpack slide off his shoulders and fished the note from his pocket.

_Die._

Was written on it, in ugly, big letters. Eren clenched his jaw tightly as he flipped the note.

_Consider it done._

Was what he himself added when he was on that bridge. It would have been a beautiful death. He would fall into the deep, deep river and die in peace there. But then this Levi-guy showed up and ruined everything. The piece of paper crumbled in between his fist and Eren let out a deep sigh.

He walked over to his desk; notes and pieces of paper shattered messily on the piece of furniture. Eren slid his phone underneath a notebook and glanced at the screen.

_(9) missed calls from Mikasa_

_(3) missed calls from Armin_

_(7) new messages_

Eren twitched with his mouth and eventually ticked in Armin’s number, sinking down on his desk chair. “Hey, Eren.” Armin’s voice rang through the speakers. “Hi, Armin.” Eren smiled to himself. “I missed you in class today, man. Are you okay?” the blonde asked, concern written in his voice.

_No, I’m not._

“Oh, I’m fine.” Eren said brightly.


	2. Dazed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> eren and levi meet again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii  
> sorry it took me so long to update, but i wrote like five different drafts for this chapter and i still wasn't satisfied with the result, but now I finally am lol

It was Saturday, 11 am, when Eren finally woke up. His head throbbed and ached painfully, causing the 19-year old to groan quietly. Glad that he didn't have any classes today, he got up and made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He glanced into the mirror and examined his face, nose scrunching up.

_Disgusting_.

He walked over to the left and turned on the water for a nice and long bath. He poured some lavender oil in and sighed in bliss as the bathtub was slowly filling. Eren stripped his clothes off, pulled his socks from his feet and looked at the water longingly, but the bathtub wasn’t completely filled yet.

Eren extended his arms, and he looked at the many scars on his wrists. Some long, as if someone scratched their fingernails in his lower arm. Some tiny, small and thin. Some fading, blending in with the caramel skin. The boy stepped into the bathtub quietly, the heat of the water embracing his muscles.

Eren let out a breath, leaning his head back against the small space where usually all kinds of shampoo and soaps would be. The water reached just below his collarbone, and he had to pull his knees up to actually fit in the tub, but it was all well. The water had the calming scent of lavender, and it steadied Eren’s in-and exhales, until he was in complete bliss.

His hands moved up to massage some kind of special shampoo in his hair. Eren’s fingers tried to comb his chocolate-brown hair, but failed miserably. It was always going to be this messy.

He thought back of that friday, which was only eight days ago, with a frown. Eren had never assumed someone would run into him and stop him from killing himself. A voice inside his head scolded him.

_‘If you really wanted to, you could just jump before that man got there. Are you that weak?’_

“I am.” Eren murmured, dropping his hands from his hair. They landed on the surface of the water with a loud splash. He exhaled slowly, trying to calm his lungs down. He inhaled deeply, the strong scent of lavender making him slightly dizzy.

Eren sat up on his knees and leaned in, his nose touching the water. He was going to hold his breath as long as possible. Last time he did, he stopped at 60 seconds.

Then, Eren took a deep breath and sank his face into the hot water. And he started counting.

When he reached 60 seconds, his lungs began to shrink, screaming for air. But Eren stayed under, forcing himself to hold his breath ‘just a little longer’. His chest began to jolt violently, hands shaking as they pressed against his hair, keeping him under water. Eren’s lungs were going to explode. Involuntary, his mouth opened in a gasp, and he swallowed a mouthful of water.

His head flew upwards, escaping the water. Eren gasped for air, coughing uncontrollably as water slipped from his mouth and nose. His head spun and he saw black spots, but somehow, it gave him satisfaction.

He climbed out of the tub, the tiled floor slippery due to the water that splashed onto it, and Eren dried himself completely, giving up on his hair after he tried to style it. Once Eren was fully dry, except for his hair, he grabbed one of Mikasa’s fluffy bathrobes and buried himself in the warm piece of clothing.

He walked towards the couch and plopped down, pulling his knees up to his chest so he could rest his chin on them. At times like this, Eren felt alone. Completely and utterly alone. Mikasa wasn’t home much, so he was home alone most of the time, unless Connie was throwing a party. His phone ringed a few times, muffled by a pillow it was buried under. It was Armin. “Yeah?” Eren said quietly, scolding himself for letting some of his sadness seep through his voice.

“Good morning, Eren! Do you want to go to the library with me? We really need some books for that new project we are working on. Plus, we can visit the drawing store.” The blonde answered brightly, the smile practically evident on his lips. “I just woke up.” Was Eren’s lame excuse, and he pouted slightly as he realised that wasn’t going to work on Armin.

“Great! I’ll be there in 15.” His best friend exclaimed happily, ending the call before the other could protest. Eren sighed deeply but found himself smiling slightly. That was Armin; always happy and willing to spend time with him. In some way, it was foolish. Armin could get so much better than me, Eren thought. But secretly, he couldn’t live without his blonde best friend.

_You sick bastard._

“Sorry.” He muttered, getting up to go to his bedroom.

At some point in his life, Eren couldn’t remember when, he started embracing the sadness. There was no escape when it came to fact. Yes, he knew he was a fuck up. Yes, he knew he wasn’t worth life, or happiness. He knew it all. But sometimes, the darkness was comforting.

Eren slipped into a black shirt and equally dark skinny jeans. An olive green hoodie was snatched from the desk chair it was resting on. It was September, and the second year of the university had started. Eren knew it was going to be quite cold, so he also wore an oversized denim jacket over his hoodie.

He pulled the hood of his hoodie all the way over his hair, so that it covered everything but a few strands of chocolate brown hair. The doorbell rang. “Yes, coming.” Eren said while slinging his backpack around his shoulder, hurrying to the door. He pressed a button next to the door while the intercom announced: “Eren, I’m here!”

Eren opened the door for a widely smiling Armin.

“Wow, you’re dressed like it’s winter.” Armin chuckled when he saw his friend’s choice of clothes. “What? It’s cold.” Eren shrugged, a blush dusting his cheeks. “No worries, it is. But I suggest you leave the sweater here.” The blonde smiled, nodding his head towards the olive green piece of clothing. “Okay.” Eren shrugged off his backpack and jacket, zipped the hoodie open and tossed it away, somewhere behind him.

“Let’s go. We can take the bus, oh- did you grab your travelling card?” Armin asked, all in one breath. “No, wait.” Eren was about to close the door behind him and pushed it back open, realising he almost forgot his keys too. He snatched it and his travelling card from the kitchen island and ran back to his friend. “Alright, we’re good to go.” Armin said with a grin, letting out a sigh in bliss whilst glancing over at Eren.

Eren, who wasn’t paying any attention to his surroundings, grabbed his phone and earphones. Armin frowned slightly as he saw his friend’s shoulders slump. “You okay?” He said worriedly, tilting his head slightly. “Wha- oh yeah. I am.” Eren smiled and plugged his earphones in his phone. “Sorry, I was just mistyping my password. Happens all the time.” He said as excuse. He knew he was babbling, and he knew Armin knew that too.

“Alright. Do you think you’re tall enough for us to share the earphones?” Eren said teasingly, holding out one earphone. “Duh. Of course.” Armin stuck out his tongue and took it from his best friend. “Duh. Of course.” Armin stuck out his tongue and took the earphone. They walked to the bus stop like that, chatting and laughing quietly while listening to music.

"Oh, let's go to that café!" Armin exclaimed happily, dragging Eren with him. They arrived at Square Maria. They already got their books for the project and when Eren mumbled he was thirsty, Armin suggested that they should drink something.

"Wait-" Eren tried to release himself from Armin's grip, but it was too strong. They were going right into the café Levi worked.

***

Eren and Armin sat down at a table close to a window, in the back. "Excuse me, can we order?" Armin asked kindly, raising his hand slightly. Eren walked in with his head bowed, so he had been unable to see the waiters working behind the counter. But when a woman arrived at their table, he felt a little more relieved.

"Alright, what can I get for you boys?" The woman said warmly, pushing a strand of her strawberry red hair behind her ear. "Can I get a cappuccino, please?" Armin asked with a smile, to which the woman nodded. "And you?" He asked, glancing over to his friend.

"Oh, just a black coffee, please." Eren answered hesitantly, fiddling with his fingers. "Coming up." The woman wrote their drinks down and with a soft smile on her face, she left.

"One cappuccino and a black coffee." Petra said to Levi, who was standing behind the counter. He hummed in reply, preparing the drinks. "Be right back." Petra said as she hurried over to another table, with new customers.

"Oh, come on, Eren! It's not that difficult." A boy exclaimed brightly, laughing quietly. Eren? Levi looked over his shoulder curiously, eyes widened in surprise when he actually saw the boy sitting there, with a blonde boy. Eren seemed uncomfortable, and flashed his friend a clearly forced look, eyes scanning the room as if he was looking for someone. Then, their eyes met.

All air was visibly knocked out of Eren’s lungs. Heat rushed to his cheeks whilst his lips parted to let out a puff of breath. He faintly heard Armin continue his story in the far, far distance. Fuck. Eren had really hoped he would never had to experience this moment. Anxiety flooded through his veins, claiming him. And no one noticed.

Levi saw emotions flicker in Eren’s eyes; disbelief and fear. Don’t worry, he tried to tell the other with his eyes. However, the boy a few feet away from him tore his gaze away, focusing back on his friend.

Eren felt himself panic. What if that guy wanted to talk about what happened while Armin was still sitting there? Or what if he wanted Eren to explain what happened to Armin, or preferably, tell him he was suicidal?

_Click-clack_.

The soft ticking of Levi’s heals colliding with the hard-wooden flooring rang in Eren’s ears, causing his blush to deepen. He really wished he could just sink into the floor and disappear. Maybe, if he told Armin he wanted to leave right now, they could. But no, that was no option. And then, Levi arrived at their table, placing two cups, steam coming off of them, on their table.

Pitch black hair framed smooth, porcelain-coloured skin. Piercing, steel grey eyes met Eren green ones, softening instantly. Levi's eyebrows were raised, as if he couldn't believe the sight in front of him. "Your coffee." He spoke. His voice was deep and sent shivers up Eren's spine.

“Ah, thanks.” Armin grinned and shoved his cup towards himself. Eren did the same, trying to avoid Levi’s gaze as he wrapped his stiffened fingers around the smoking hot cup. It burned, but he was too afraid to let go. “I think you should get your hands off the cup, Eren. It’s going to be painful.” Levi said out of nowhere, catching Eren by surprise. He nearly jumped from his seat, coffee splashing all over his hands.

“Oh, fuck, sorry, I didn’t mean to- wait,” Levi winced at the sight of Eren’s fingers and stumbled over to the back, snatching a wet cloth from the sink. “Here. Fuck, I’m so sorry.” Levi apologised, guilt eating him alive as he handed Eren the cloth. The boy’s fingers trembled violently as he took it from him. “Oh, Eren, are you okay? Wait, let me do that for you. Hold your hands still.” Armin said in horror, a frown appearing on his face.

It wasn’t the fact that burning hot coffee was biting in Eren’s skin that made him feel so anxious at the moment. It were all the stares, people trying to see what happened as Armin dabbed the wet cloth on his fingers. “We have ice cubes in the back. Levi, you should go with him.” The waitress from before said worriedly. Eren got up with effort and followed Levi to the back, going through a few doors before ending up in the kitchen. He sank down on a chair.

It smelled of fruit and dough in there, calming Eren down slightly.

“Fuck, Eren. I’m so sorry.” Levi said for what felt for the thousandth time, and Eren had enough of it. “Okay!” He burst out all of a sudden, voice cracking midway through. “Okay.” He breathed, swallowing thickly. “Sorry, it’s just… I’m not feeling well at the moment.” Eren added quietly, a sob threatening to escape from his throat.

“Everyone was looking at what happened, I-I felt all their stares at me, and it gets on my nerves.” He continued, clenching his jaw to hold back his tears. “That’s okay. You’re okay now. No one’s here, just the two of us. If you want me to leave, that’s okay with me.” Levi said in a calm voice, his cool fingers gently lifting Eren’s hand as he pressed an ice cube against the reddening skin. “No, it’s okay, I just…” Eren took a deep breath as he tried to calm down his lungs.

Levi’s fingers, on his. Electricity.

He didn’t exactly know why he was telling Levi all of this; he barely knew him. But for some reason, it slipped from him. “Sorry, I’m okay. I should go back.” He said in a rushed voice.

Levi was debating with himself. He didn’t want to push the already worked up boy, but also saw he wasn’t okay at all. “Just your other hand.” He said quietly, lifting the melting ice cube to press down on Eren’s right hand.

“Have you been okay?” Levi asked. He asked a question, but nothing in his voice pushed Eren to answer the question. “Yeah.” He replied flatly, the coolness of the ice cube relieving some of the panic. “Have you told anyone?” Levi asked, pressing the cube down a bit more. “No.” Eren said in a whisper, cheeks burning in shame. “Sorry.” He said, shoulders slumping and head hanging down slightly.

“Why are you saying sorry?” Levi asked tilting his head slightly as he removed the ice cube, now placing it on his left hand, which was still slightly cold from the previous time it was on. “I know I should tell someone, b-but… I never t-told anyone, you’re the first to find out. A-although I didn’t exactly tell you.” Eren stammered, nervously biting down on his lip.

“But that’s… maybe that was easier. I’m not good with words, you see.” He confessed quietly, the ice cube being removed from his left hand. Levi hummed. “I didn’t notice at all.” Levi replied, tossing the ice cube in the sink. “Do you want to go back yet?” he added, finally facing Eren.

Eren’s cheeks burned at his comment, and he looked away trying to avoid his gaze. “Yes, that’s okay.” He mumbled, getting up from the chair. He walked back with Levi, smiling sheepishly at Armin when they were back. He was still sitting at their table, hands around his cup of coffee. “Ah, Eren! Are you okay?” Armin asked worriedly, tilting his head slightly.

“Yeah. Doesn’t hurt anymore.” Eren said with a shrug, his fingers feeling stiff and cold from the ice cubes. “Alright. Do you want to get another cup or shall we just go to the art supplies store?” Armin asked. “Oh, we can just go.” Eren replied, hurrying over to his table as he grabbed his backpack and jacket. “I’m going to thank Le- him really quick.” Eren announced and Armin nodded, waiting outside.

“Thank you, Levi. Again.” He said in a soft voice, bowing his head. “It’s alright, Eren,” Levi said with a crooked smile. “although it was my fault to begin with.” He added with a sigh, running his hand through his hair. “It’s okay.” Eren said, earning a small smile. His heart rate picked up when that happened, and he scolded himself.

Why did his heart skip a beat?

"Well, I see you around, I guess." Eren trailed off, giving the counter a soft tap. "Yeah. Goodbye, Eren." His name rolled of Levi's tongue as if it was just made for him. "Bye." Eren nodded and he spun around, walking to the door.

"Wait, Eren." Eren stopped and flinched when a hand tapped his shoulder. "I just... I know we barely know each other, and I probably sound like a creep saying this, but... If you want someone to talk to, I'm here." The words slipped from Levi's lips before he could rethink the whole action.

"Oh," Eren murmured, a dark blush dusting his cheeks. "Thank you?" He replied, although It sounded more like a question. There was an awkward silence between them, filled by soft chattering of the other people.

"Sorry. Shit, that must've sound really weird." Levi broke the silence, a light blush appearing on his cheeks. "Wha- no, it's fine, really. Thank you." Eren said quickly, not wanting him to feel uncomfortable. "I am just not really good with expressing my feelings and such... I don't even know why I'm telling you this." Eren added with a gloomy expression.

Levi didn't really know what to say, so he gave a brief nod. "I should go back, Armin's waiting." Eren said stiffly, lifting his hand as a goodbye. "Oh, right. Goodbye, Eren." Levi nodded.

Eren shouldn't feel so flustered just with Levi saying his name. He really shouldn't. "Bye," He replied softly, spinning around to leave.

"Levi." Eren added in a whisper. 

***

“Who was that?” Armin asked casually, but obviously curious, the second he saw Eren. “Oh, just Levi.” The other replied, shifting his gaze away from his friend. “But he knew your name. Do you know him?” The blonde continued, picking up his pace so he could walk next to Eren. “Yeah, I’ve been here before.” Eren lied, fiddling with the buttons of his jacket. “Armin, I’m kind of tired, so… is it okay if I just go home?” He confessed quietly.

“Sure. Do you have something like an ointment to smear on your hands?” Armin asked, concern lacing through his voice as he glared at his best friend from the side. “Oh, yeah. Don’t worry.” Eren shrugged, holding out one earphone again. “No thanks. I’m going with a different bus, remember?” Armin reminded him, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Oh, right. Well, see you later then.” Eren stopped walking and waved at him. “I’ll text you about the project later.” Armin nodded with a grin, before walking the opposite way.

That’s right. The first week of their new year on the university, and they were already lumbered with homework, plus a project. Luckily, they could pick partners and their own subject. Armin and Eren were going to do it about art throughout the years. Finally something Eren knew a lot about.

He listened to music while gently bobbing his head in time with the music. As he stepped into the bus, Eren was got a text. With a frown, he saw it was Armin’s and unlocked his phone. He sat down before opening it.

_Armin: Don’t forget the ointment :)_

Eren let out a sigh. He didn’t deserve a friend like Armin.

_Eren: I won’t, thanks_

It took exactly 27 minutes for him to arrive back home. It was around  1 am and Eren plopped down on the couch as he kicked out his shoes and shrugged off his backpack. He slipped out of his jacket and yawned. He hadn’t been lying when he said he was extremely tired. If everything was alright, Mikasa would be in America now, having her boxing match. There was a time difference; it was around 11 pm there.

Eren reached for the remote control and zapped through a few channels. Mikasa made a lot of money out of boxing, so they had a lot of channels to choose from. Finally, he saw a boxing ring. He sat up and watched as Mikasa’s alias(the ‘soldier’)was called out. She walked in the ring with a huge smirk on her face.

A lot of people underestimate her, because she looks vulnerable; skinny, average height, pretty face, etcetera. But honestly, she was a boss. She was quick, strong and incredibly flexible. Her coach, Annie Leonhart, was very fond of her and is around her all the time. Mikasa had a busy schedule, full of training, matches and competitions, but Annie handled everything.

However, after watching maybe a minute or two, Eren turned the TV off. He was really tired(mostly because he stayed up all night)and settled himself down on the comfortable couch, slowly drifting away.

He woke up when it was around 6 pm, mainly because of his throbbing hands. Eren cursed loudly and made his way to the kitchen to get an ointment to soothe the pain. “Burning ointment.” He murmured as he stood on his tiptoes to reach for the small box on top of the kitchen cabinet, which wasn’t opened yet. He climbed off the chair he was standing on and walked back to the couch.

The salve was incredibly cold, embracing the pain and engulfing it completely. Eren looked at his hands in disbelief, smearing a bit too much on both. Letting out a sigh in bliss, he rested the back of his head against the couch. And he started thinking about himself.

Eren felt down. He had these kind of mood swings often, and because he didn’t wanted to bother other people with his problems, he told no one. The darkness gloomed above him, pressing down on him. Suddenly, his mind started filling with thoughts and words that were barked out to him;

_Worthless_

_All alone,_

_Waste of space…_

_You should fucking die and rot in hell_

_Prick_

Eren listened to the voices with no expression on his face, as if he was listening to a recording. He felt that familiar tightness in his chest, and _knew_ he had to do something. His legs and arms felt numb as he got up from the couch and stumbled towards his room. He had to, no _needed_ , to get something. A pain only he could control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hah so that was the second chapter :)))  
> it was really hard for me to write a good dialogue between eren and levi, but i guess it kinda went well??  
> how are you all doing btw? i still have one more week of school ;-; but after that i can start bingewatching anime again yaayy  
> also: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE KUDOS AND COMMENTS AAAHHHH <3


	3. Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> levi talking to his cat is canon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone,  
> sorry it took me a while to update, but school has officially ended for me, so i'll update more regulary!  
> loovveeee  
> ps: do tell me if you notice any mistakes!

Wednesday

Levi had always been a very hygienic guy. His sister, Isabel, used to tease him, telling him he had a fear of germs. In some way, that was true. Levi wouldn’t want anything dirty on his clothes when he was younger, running home whenever something like dirt stained his pants or shirt. But he wasn’t completely terrified of it.

“That’s right.” Levi mumbled to himself, wondering why he brought that memory up. There was a meow to be heard, so Levi looked next to him, gaze travelling down as he put the knife he was cutting strawberries with on the small chopping board in front of him. “Do you want something too?” He asked, his eyes softening as they met his cat’s, Luna.

The pitch black cat closed her amber-coloured eyes briefly and nuzzled against Levi’s calves, letting out a meow. “Alright,” Levi walked over to his fridge, closely followed by Luna, and opened the door with a sigh. “I don’t have much, I was supposed to get your cat food today- oh, I do have some canned salmon. Would you like that?” He commented, reaching out to grab the small can.

He earned another mewl and with nod, he grabbed a bowl. With a sickening, wet sound, the can opened. Levi scrunched up his nose and grabbed a fork to scrape the substance in the bowl. “Bleurgh.” He nearly gagged as the oil dripped from the pudding-like salmon mixed with whatever was in there. Levi shuddered and scraped the rest of the ‘food’ in the bowl, mashing the fork in to make it look more appealing for his cat, who looked very uninterested now that she took a closer look.

“C’mon, Luna.” Levi sighed deeply as he shoved the bowl in front of Luna’s paws, but she merely looked away. “Mhm. Well, I guess I wouldn’t eat it either. Let’s get you some real food.” The short man said whilst rubbing the back of his head and shrugging. He gave her dark ears a stroke. “See you in a bit.” Levi said after a while, fully dressed and ready to go. His phone and keys were safely tugged into the pockets of his bomber jacket.

He locked the door behind him and walked down four stairs, seeing as he lived on the second floor of his apartment. Levi got into his car and quickly turned on the radiator. It was autumn in Sina, but that didn’t stop the weather from being extremely cold during the daytime. Maybe he’d drop by work later, just to get something to drink.

He arrived at the pets store. “The best cat food you have, please.” Levi said bluntly as he tapped his feet on the ground impatiently. The employee behind the counter was _extremely_ slow, something that caused Levi to supress the urge to curse the fuck out of him. “How many would you like, sir?” The employee asked politely, noticing the anger radiating off Levi. “Just gimme enough for at least a week.” The shorter man shrugged carelessly and literally threw his money on the counter. “Um, I could give you a box, sir? It’s a monthly box that recently came in here, it’s usually only for sale online-”

“That’s great. I’ll take it.” Levi cut him off and shoved the box towards himself. “Keep the change.” He said over his shoulder, leaving the store as he murmured something under his breath. With a soft sigh, Levi stored the box inside his car. He left his car again, which was parked nearby square Maria. It had a huge parking lot, since it was the centre of Sina.

A grunt escaped Levi’s lips as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his knee-length, dark grey coat. He supressed a shiver due to the harsh cold and bit the inside of is cheeks. He hoped that Eren’s hand was healed and didn’t hurt anymore.

Eren. That boy had been on his mind all the fucking time.

When Levi closed his eyes, all he could see was him staring outside of the car window while telling him he wanted to get rid of the ‘ache’ in his heart. That everyone was sick of him. But that was okay, because he was used to it. And the other day, that the stares got on his nerves and he felt as if everyone was looking.

It was strange, because he didn’t even know Eren at all, yet he felt… something. Something of empathy towards him. Levi cringed when he remembered he told Eren he could talk to him whenever he wanted to. That probably sounded very weird and creepy. What if he totally scared him away? Levi inhaled and breathed out. He should’ve said it in another way, not like that.

_Eren’s face, slightly frowning and confused, muttering an “Oh.”_

“Ugh..” That was a really stupid thing to say. However, if Eren needed to talk, at least he knew Levi was there to listen. Maybe he could help him... But then again, he probably had a lot of people to talk to. Levi heard that boy who was there too and Eren talk about plans for school, along with a long list of names and jokes they had together. So, maybe he didn’t even need help.

Levi decided he was going to stop by The Legion, for a cup of tea to warm his ice cold hands.

“Hey, Levi.” Today, Petra had her shift. She smiled kindly from behind the counter. Attached to the counter was a small bar, so Levi took a seat there. “Good afternoon.” He replied quietly, running a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes at the warmth of the café. “Tea?” Petra said with a smile. “Yes, please.” Levi nodded and rubbed his hands together to warm them even more.

“So, how are you?” Petra asked, preparing the tea. “Tired.” Levi replied honestly, playing with his fingers. “Excuse me, ma’am. Can we check-out?” A girl asked, raising her hand. Petra suppressed a sigh as she quickly set the tea leaves on the small table behind her, next to the boiling water. “I’ll help you,” Levi offered, getting up from the stool he was sitting on. “No, you are going to sit down. You work way too much.” His co-worker commented sternly, pushing him back on the stool as she hurried over to the table.

Levi raised a dark brow at her order and shrugged. Maybe he did work a bit much. He fished his phone from his pocket and ticked the password in. Levi checked his emails, landing on one from a nearby bookstore, The Wall. He subscribed on their email because they updated their book storage often and they also wrote a whole list of new books that came in. And Levi happened to love reading.

“Mhm,” He hummed as his eyes scanned the list. This month didn’t acquire a lot of books, but one title caught Levi’s eye. It wasn’t exactly a book, but a volume of poetry. It was called: ‘beyond everything’ and had a black cover, with a single flower-like pattern drawn on it. “huh.” Levi narrowed his eyes deciding it didn’t look bad at all.

It was only going to be sold in The Wall, so ‘ _come check it out’_

Levi decided he would drop by later, to take a look at it. “I think Eld is going to be here in a few minutes. Finally.” Petra was back with an exhausted look on her face. “I think I’m going to go.” Levi stifled a yawn and got up from the barstool. “Okay.” Petra flashed him a warm smile. “Oh wait- your tea. Do you want me to put it away, or do you still want to drink it?” she asked. “Oh, you can just put it away.” Levi shrugged, letting his phone slide back in his pocket. “Okay. Goodbye, Levi.” Petra waved at him. Levi lifted his hand in return, leaving the café.

The Wall wasn’t far from square Maria; in fact, it was extremely close. Levi went into one of the many side streets and let his eyes wander the many shops there. He found the one he was looking for and slipped past groups of people.

The bookstore had a fresh, new smell, as if everything was brand-new. “Welcome back, Levi.” It was Gunther. “Oh. Hello Gunther.” Levi looked over at the man, who had a huge grin on his face. “How are you?” Gunther asked, running a hand through his short hair. “M’fine,” Levi shrugged, tilting his head slightly. “what about you?” He asked the other, who gave a shrug as well. “I’m okay. Has been really busy here.” Gunther said as response, his smile widening. “That’s good to hear.” Said Levi with a nod.

“Yeah. And what about The Legion?” Gunther asked. “It’s been okay. School’s starting again, though, so I expect more customers after a while.” Levi walked over to the _Highlights Of The Month_ spot, looking for that poem volume. “Yeah. Same goes for us.” Gunther followed him and gave a hum in agreement.

Gunther was okay. He was a regular customer at The Legion, and a good friend of Eld. He worked at The Wall, and since Levi was there quite often, they sort of became friends as well.

“Hey, Gunther,” Levi began, his eyes travelling across all the titles, but not finding the one he was looking for. “do you have that new poem volume, ‘beyond everything’?” he continued, looking back at the other. Gunther frowned as he thought about it. “Oh, yeah. It’s in the back.” He gave a brief nod and Levi followed him to the counter. Gunther disappeared and came back with a compact, matt black book.

“This is the one.” Gunther said with a grin. “Thank you.” Levi took the book from him and browsed through it. “Any idea who made it?” He asked curiously. Underneath every poem was a small drawing. “No. The writer’s anonymous. I think only the boss knows.” Gunther said with an apologetic look. “We don’t have a lot of them, either. Maybe 10. I think, whoever it may be, is new to all of this and just wanted to make a volume, but keep it private. That’s why we only sell it here.” He added.

“I’ll take it.” Levi said with a nod, placing some money on the counter. “Alright. See you around, Levi.” Gunther said as Levi left, who returned the goodbye with a wave of his hand. The book wasn’t extremely big, nor extremely small. Big enough to fit in Levi’s pocket.

“Ah, fuck.” Levi cursed when out of nowhere, it started to rain. He practically _ran_ his way to his car, which took him about 10 minutes. Panting, he arrived, unlocking his car and quickly jumping inside. Levi let out a huff and sighed deeply. His coat was completely drenched. That reminded him of the fact he still had the book in there. He pulled it out of his pocket. The brown paper it was wrapped in was soggy, so he carefully removed the tape and paper and examined the book.

It looked unharmed, slightly damp but not completely soaked.

“Fuckin’ cloudbursts.” Levi grumbled. With a deep exhale, he drove away. The box in the backseat moved back and forth.

By the time Levi arrived home, the raining had stopped. He got out of his car, the box pressed against his side, held in place by his right arm. The book was in his other hand. “I’m back home.” Levi announced as he pushed the keys in the door, unlocking it in one, swift movement. Immediately, Luna appeared in the doorframe of the kitchen, watching him intently.

“Yes, I got your food.” Levi’s eyes softened and his lips curled up in a smile. He closed the door behind him and walked over to the kitchen. He placed the book on the kitchen table, along with the box. Luna was on the table next to him within a second, pushing her head against his upper arm. “Yeah, yeah.” Levi murmured quietly, opening a drawer to grab a knife. He sliced through the tape of the box and found himself at least 20, middle-sized cans of cat food richer.

There was even a small note within the box. ‘ _The best food for your cat! With a variable of flavours, your cat will have a decent amount to pick from and getting the needed vitamins and proteins!_ ’

Levi raised a dark brow and nearly gagged. It looked like the screenplay for a commercial. “Well, let’s give it a try.” He said out loud, pulling on the lid of one of the cans. The food was reddish and looked a lot like a pulp of meatloaf. “Hm.” Levi lifted the can and looked at the flavour. “Beef. Do you like that?” He asked Luna, who closed her eyes in agreement. “Great.” Levi grabbed her bowl from the ground and with a spoon, he scooped the meat in.

“Enjoy.” Levi placed the bowl back in the corner of the kitchen, where Luna’s spot was, and leaned against the fridge. Luna dove off the table, but landed gracious in front of her food. She cautiously lowered her head to sniff at the bowl. Then, she started to eat. With a satisfied purr, Luna finished the rest, looking up to Levi and closing her eyes again. Levi squatted down to scratch her ears and tickle her chin. Levi gave her a wink and went to the living room.

Levi’s apartment was basically an enormous room. When you entered, you were automatically standing in the living room. There was a light blue sofa across of a flat screen TV and small coffee table to the left. Then, to the right, there was a kitchen, together with a huge kitchen table and a door that led to the balcony. There was one single hallway, and that led to the door to Levi’s bedroom.

Levi yawned and plopped down on the sofa, with his book.

However, he placed the book on the coffee table and felt his eyes flutter close, although he tried to hold them open. He slept maybe 4 hours last night, and was exhausted. Levi tried to stifle another yawn, but failed miserably. Eventually, he gave up, letting the back of his head rest against one of the pillows on the sofa.

It didn’t take him long to fall asleep.

***

Thursday

“A slice of red velvet cake?” Levi had arrived at a table, and a girl raised her hand with a grin. “Yup, that’s mine.” She nodded and took the plate from him. “And the carrot cake must be yours?” He placed the piece of carrot cake in front of the boy the girl was with, and left again. “It’s quite busy.” Hange grinned as she prepared a cup of coffee. “Mhm.” Levi hummed in response, walking over to an empty table to collect the cups and plates.

It was ecause school started again, a lot of students were in The Legion, either working on their laptop or just enjoying the afternoon. There was a relaxed, chatty vibe in the café, and since Levi only just started his shift, he would be there until at least past closing time, since he had an appointment with Erwin, who owned the place. Erwin worked here himself too, but only sometimes. Levi basically owed his life to the man, who had offered him this job a few years ago, and paid him more than he actually deserved, not matter how many times Levi refused.

“No, Jean- I promise! It’s actually a really good spot. Right, Eren?” That was a voice Levi recognised slightly.

Levi’s head snapped up in the direction of the now open door. A small group of students walked in, chatting with each other. Someone snorted. “It better be. Come, Marco, let’s go sit in the back.” A boy with quite short, light-brown hair with much darker, trimmed sides nudged a boy with dark hair next to him and motioned to the huge table in the back. “Come on, Ymir.” A short girl- shorter than Levi himself- with blonde hair flashed the girl next to her a bright smile. The other girl rolled her eyes, but clearly bit back a smile as she followed her. “Stop it, Connie!” A girl with reddish-brown hair that was kept into a ponytail giggled as the bald boy next to her slung his arm around her waist. “Reiner, hold up-” Jesus, this guy was a fucking giant. He almost had to bend down in order to go through the door. A guy that was almost as tall as that other guy pulled on his arm, grinning smugly. His hazel-coloured eyes were glistening playfully as the whole group went to the study table in the back.

“Guys, no need to go that fast,” A boy with blonde hair chimed as he followed them. The boy tilted his head to flash the boy to his right a grin. The boy- who had a chocolate brown hair colour and a beautifully tanned skin- returned the gesture with a small smile. The blonde was much faster whilst the other boy took his time and followed calmly. He passed the counter.

Eren.

They all sat down at the table, grabbing their laptops and books, talking quietly. “Can we order?” The girl with blonde hair asked sweetly. Levi gave a nod and walked over to their spot. He tapped his pencil on his notes and tilted his head slightly. Everyone summed up their orders, and Levi looked at each one of them individually, until-

His eyes didn’t meet Eren’s, because the younger was looking away. “I’ll just have a black coffee.” He said quietly, looking for something in his backpack. Levi nodded, checked everything one more time before leaving to the counter. He started to prepare their drinks, Hange helping him out with the cake.

Hange giggled next to him. “What?” Levi grabbed plates and utensils, quirking a dark brow at his co-worker. “That boy. He’s staring at you.” They gave him a wink and went to the back, to get the food they asked for. Levi frowned in confusion, and watched her leave. Then, he spun around.

His eyes snapped up in the direction of the table the students were sitting. Teal-green met Steel-grey, and Levi watched the other’s eyes widen, seeing as he was caught. His teeth dug into his lower lip, chewing on it nervously. _S’okay,_ Levi told him with his eyes, drumming his fingers on the counter as his expression softened in an attempt to calm him down. Eren tilted his head slightly, as if he was trying to read Levi’s eyes.

Then, Eren’s lips curled up in the most beautiful smile Levi had ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aghhh, i apologise for the shortness of this chapter. the next one will be much longer and more interesting!  
> x


	4. Poison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY THAT IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE AGHHHH  
> i had zero inspiration and i had to rewrite this chapter like three times lol  
> xx

_The ocean. It was deep, dark green and calm. I sunk all the way down, breathing not being a problem at all. I felt extremely light, although I was still sinking. As I closed my eyes, something presses against my ears. My eyes fluttered open, a few bubbles escaping my lips as I let out a sound of surprise, which is swallowed by the ocean. I turn my head left and right, my movements slowed down by the pressure of the water. Nothing is there. Still, the pressing builds up even more, suffocating me. Up, go up. I let my head fall back, seeing the surface of the water, the brightness of the reflection of the sun. I lift both of my arms, moving my body in a way that makes me go up a bit. But the more I try to swim up, the more I feel some sort of tugging at my feet, pulling me down. I frowned, looking down. Two large, ghost-like hands have wrapped themselves around my ankles, pulling. I parted my lips in a scream, reaching up. I was so, so close to the light. Yet the darkness engulfed me again as I disappeared into the depth of green and blue._

Eren jolted awake, a gasp escaping his lips as he sat up in one, swift movement. His breathing quickened as his gaze travelled around the dark living room. That’s right. He calmed down and let out a soft sigh as he realised where he was. Wow, that was scary. And realistic.

Eren got up from the couch he had been sleeping on and shuffled his way to the kitchen. He filled a glass with water. His hand trembled so much he spilled half of the content, so Eren drank the bit of what was left and returned to the couch. Whenever Mikasa was gone, he’d rather sleep on the couch, because it was close to the exit and had a huge window, which he always opened slightly.

A soft sigh escaped Eren’s slightly chapped lips as he let himself sink down on the couch again. After a while, he sat up, leaning against the pillows as he stared out of the window. Oh, how he wished he could get rid of this empty, hollow feeling. Eren felt his eyes flutter open and close, fighting against the heavy tiredness that seemed to force his eyelids close.

He fell asleep like that, part of him wanting to stay awake, but the other, much stronger part, giving in to the sleep. When Eren awoke, it was 5 am. He slid off the couch and stumbled towards the kitchen, where he grabbed his phone from the kitchen island. “Mhm…” he mumbled in his half-sleeping state.

Eren made his way back to the couch and squinted his eyes at the brightness of his phone as he turned it on. He immediately lowered the brightness and looked at his messages. One from Mikasa, asking if he was alright.

_M’Okay. X_

Eren typed back. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. Then, he got up again, tossed his phone on the couch and got into the bathroom. He took a long, hot shower and thought about everything that had been bothering him. Eren’s chest ached again, his right foot sliding left and right on the slippery, tiled floor. Water dripped along his back, sending a shiver up his spine. With a soft exhale, he turned the shower off. Eren dried his hair with a towel. It wasn’t as if he didn’t like blow-dryers, but he preferred a towel, if he could choose. Plus, his hair had plenty of time to dry, seeing as his first class started around 10 am.

As Eren walked back to the living room and switched on the lights, his stomach rumbled. Ah. Well, that was as expected, seeing he didn’t eat much yesterday. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he went back to the kitchen to grab an apple. After washing it, Eren hesitantly took a bite. Sweet. Too sweet. He set the apple aside and wiped his mouth. Why did everything disgust him? He even started to dislike coffee, even though it was one of the most enjoyable things on earth, to him. Maybe it was all just a phase. That’s how his father liked to describe Eren’s ‘disrespectful’ and ‘inappropriate’ behaviour. Eren felt his heart sink and chewed on his lower lip.

His fingers drummed on the kitchen table as he thought about everything for a second.

_Stop, just stop. You’re only making it worse._

Eren twitched with his mouth and frowned.

_What do you mean, ‘making it worse’? Like he can avoid the fact no one really cares about him. It’s the truth. Face it._

All those thoughts again… With a small, frustrated huff, Eren ran one hand through his hair. “Just stop.” He murmured tiredly. _God_ , what would it be easy to just end everything right now. This instant. Eren pressed the palms of his hand against his closed eyes and sighed.

{ small time skip }

“Hey, there’s Eren!” Krista chimed brightly. The whole group turned to the boy as if they were one, grinning at him. “Jaeger.” Jean gave a nod. “Eren!” Armin smiled and waved him over. Eren’s eyes widened slightly and his lips parted. Did they always have to be this… loud? He felt as if the entire school was staring at him as he made his way to his group of friends, who had settled themselves in the back of the cafeteria. “Hi, guys.” Eren greeted them softly, a small and very forced smile creeping up his face.

His classes were finally over, and since he had an arts class, he had to stay a bit longer than the others. Eren shrugged they’d just leave without him, but as he already knew, his friends were very persistent and insisted to wait for him.

“Ah, there you finally are! Armin told us about this café at square Maria; we wanted to check it out.” Marco said with a grin, nodding his head towards Armin. Eren frowned. Did they mean the Legion? Please no.

“Yeah. I thought that would be a fun thing to do,” Armin shrugged. “especially when you note their coffee is amazing.” He added with a smile. “S’okay with me.” Reiner shrugged. “Mhm.” Ymir nodded and looked at Krista, who sat closely next to her. “Yeah!” the blonde nodded. “I’d like to try it out as well. Even though it has been here for a long time, we never really went in there.” Berthold noted. “Yeah. You can also study there, so we can work on our projects…” Armin trailed off and looked at everyone.

Jean snorted. “If it’s really that good, I’m in.” He commented, wrapping his arm around Marco’s waist, who giggled. “Let’s go then.” Connie chimed. “Yeah! I hope their food’s good.” Sasha questioned. “Well, let’s go there then.” Armin clasped his hands together and got up, just like everyone else. Eren’s shoulders slumped. Oh, how he hoped Levi didn’t work today.

Levi.

For some strange reason, Eren’s thoughts somehow came back to the raven-haired man. He was… interesting. Intriguing. Because anxiety’s a bitch, facing Levi again would cause a lot of stress, and Eren surely couldn’t use that. He opened his mouth to protest, trying to come up with an excuse to cancel the trip to the café, when he realised he had already done that multiple times before; not coming along again would be quite suspicious, especially when he’d already agreed to hang out after his classes.

All he could do now was pray Levi wasn’t working today.

***

They had arrived at The Legion, and the whole group stood in front of the door, before Armin pushed it open. “If their coffee is bad, I’m leaving.” Jean commented, his lips pressed into a thin line. Everyone knew he was very picky about new places, so they were fully prepared.

“No, Jean- I promise! It’s actually a really good spot. Right, Eren?” Armin nudged his friend as Jean let out a snort. “It better be. Come, Marco, let’s go sit in the back.” His elbow softly collided with Marco’s ribcage as his index finger pointed at a long table in the back. There were a few sockets planted in there, so it was obviously meant for studying too.

“Come on, Ymir!” Krista laughed brightly and followed Marco and Jean. Ymir bit back a smile and rolled her eyes as she walked behind her. Eren bit his lip as his eyes flickered to the counter, checking something. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He felt his heart rate pick up as he saw Levi standing there, placing some dirty dishes in the sink behind him. He turned around again, probably to look at the group who just came in.

As they all moved to the back, Levi’s eyes scanned the group. Because Eren and Armin, previously walking ahead, let everyone pass them, they now walked behind the group. Eren examined Levi carefully, and when he realised his eyes would eventually land on him too, he quickly looked away. He felt heat rush to his cheeks and cursed silently. Armin shot him a wide smile, to which he responded with one of his own, although it was a much smaller in size. Eren felt Levi’s intense gaze on him; it made his cheeks burn even more and he quickly thought of something else.

And failed miserably.

The table had two sides you could sit on; on the left there was a long bench with a soft case; it looked more like a couch, honestly. On the right were a lot of chairs. As expected, Jean practically launched himself(and, because he was holding Marco’s sleeve, him too)at the bench. Ymir and Krista sat on a chair on the other side; Krista half in Ymir’s lap. The rest had settled themselves already, so Armin and Eren sat down on the bench.

Everyone grabbed their laptops and other work.

“Can we order?” Krista asked kindly, lifting her hand up in the air. Recognising the soft tapping of Levi’s heels, Eren immediately grabbed his backpack, pretending to look for something. He faintly heard everyone announce their orders. He got out his laptop, just like everyone else had done, and felt a soft nudge in his side. “Oh.” Eren looked away and murmured: “I’ll just have a coffee black.”

He heard Levi hum in understanding and heard him walk away. Everyone started to chat softly. “Armin?” Eren asked as he turned his laptop on. “Yeah?” The blonde replied. “I um, forgot the books for the project, sorry.” He confessed quietly. “That’s okay,” Armin shrugged. “I have some books with me, plus we can look a lot of stuff up.” He shrugged with a smile, patting Eren’s back. “Hold on, let me grab them.” Armin bent down to his backpack, and Eren let out a breath in relief. As Armin was grabbing the books, his eyes involuntary travelled over to Levi. The man was preparing coffee, tea and the other things they asked for. Suddenly, one of his co-workers gently nudged him and grinned. She nodded her head towards Eren and wiggled her eyebrows. Before he could even tear his gaze away, Levi’s eyes met his.

Eren’s eyes widened slightly. _Uh-oh._ He felt panic rise to his throat, forming a lump and he tensed visibly. His teeth dug deep into his lower lip, chewing on it. However, Levi’s eyes were calm. Tilting his head slightly, Eren released his bottom lip. Under the table, his fists relaxed and his shoulders slumped, the previous tension seeping away. His breath calmed down too.

Carefully, Eren’s lips curled upwards in a smile.

“Got ’em.” Armin said cheerfully, making Eren snap his gaze back to his friend. “Great.” He smiled awkwardly, a blush dusting his cheeks. “Alright,” He logged in and opened a new Words document. “Okay. Maybe we should make a little sketch first?” Armin suggested. Eren hummed in agreement and they worked in a silence that was only broken by soft questions and suggestions.

After a while, their drinks were served. Levi and the other woman both had plates with mugs on top of it. “A latte macchiato?” The women asked. “Yup.” Marco raised his hand. “Two cappuccinos?” She asked. “Here!” Krista chimed. “A coffee black?” Levi spoke. God. Eren wished his voice wasn’t so… deep. Low.

“Yes.” Eren reached out for the mug. Levi handed him the coffee, and their fingers brushed ever so lightly. However, it still stole Eren’s breath away. He nearly dropped it again and his cheeks flushed a light pink. Levi quickly moved on. “Ice tea?” He spoke, to which Reiner nodded. After everyone got their drinks, Jean critically took a sip of his coffee. Everyone eyed him curiously. His eyebrows raised in surprise. “It’s good.” He mumbled, which made everyone cheer sarcastically. Even Eren laughed quietly, as his eyes stole one more sight of Levi.

Eren’s lips parted, letting out a breath.

Levi was looking at him too. With a soft smile. As soon as their gazes met, their eyes widened. “Oops.” Levi mouthed soundlessly. Eren returned the smile. He added a small shrug. Levi smiled amusedly and gave him a quick wink before returning to the dishes.

How could a simple gesture like that make one’s heart rate speed up so much?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have you seen 'in a heartbeat'?  
> it's.so.good.  
> i watch it everyday gahh <3  
> also, i really want to make another oneshot  
> what do you guys suggest?  
> i'd like to do either; eren x levi, viktor x yuuri, rin x haru, haru x makoto, sebastian x ciel, william x grell, takano x ritsu, uta x yomo or kaneki x hide aaggghh  
> loveeee


	5. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a new chapter brought to you by hange saying: "sweeeet!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEEELLLOOOO GUUYSSS  
> YEET IM SO HAPPY OML  
> we hit 1K aaahhhhhhh  
> thank you all soooo much gfhfeuf i'm grinning like crazy ahhhh i love each and everyone of youuu ♡  
> gahh i apologise for not updating for sooo long sahhesifh smh. i was gone for a few weeks(vacation)and i had zero connection there, so i wasn't able to update. aaand when i came back, schooll started ;-; but i finished my homework early today, so i started writing right awayy :)))  
> xxx

Why was he doing this again? Eren fiddled with the zipper of his jacket and slowly started to regret his life decisions. He closed his eyes briefly as he felt anxiety blossom in his chest. “It’s not like you have to go.” He mumbled to himself, biting down on his lower lip. Yeah, he didn’t have to go. Eren breathed in and out slowly and felt some of his anxiety seep away as he lightly tapped his feet on the stone-like surface that was square Maria.

_Well? Are you going or not?_

“Fuck it.” The brown-haired murmured, taking a few steps towards the café. And a few steps back.

_Such a baby. Go in already!_

With a newfound brim of nervousness, Eren nodded to himself. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on the doorknob. After another inhale, he pushed the door open. Eren, who didn’t know he screwed his eyes shut, opened them carefully. He blinked. Levi wasn’t there. Heck, there weren’t even people in the usually crowded café. Well, you did skip your last classes to go here.

_People have school now, moron._

Eren’s eyes wandered the place. Was it still closed or something? There was absolutely no one- oh. A person with brown-reddish hair was half hanging, half leaning on the counter. As Eren took a step inside- Levi could be in the back, after all- the bell jingled joyfully. The person’s head shot up, as if they were stung by bees. Their eyes sparkled when they saw Eren.

“A customer. Thank goodness!” They cried out, throwing their hands in the air. “Sorry, I know it may sound weird, but all the customers I got today were just buying coffee-to-go’s and people who took their pastries with them. Finally someone who’s going to sit down- wait, you are here for lunch, right? I didn’t know school’s had breaks at a time like this. Anyway, doesn’t matter, sit down, sit down.” The person nodded their head towards an empty booth, motioning a very confused Eren to sit down. He had trouble keeping up with all the changes of subjects in such a short amount of time.

“Um, do you know where Le-” “Aren’t you supposed to be at school, young man?” The person narrowed their eyes. Eren swallowed. They weren’t a teacher he hadn’t met yet, right? But then, they grinned. “Just kiddin’! What’s your name, by the way?” They talk fast… “Eren. Eren Jaeger.” Oh my god, you moron… who the fuck adds their last name when introducing? Old people do that, yeah. A blush rose to Eren’s cheeks. “Ooh, okay… Well, I’m Hange. Hange Zoë. Nice to meet you!” Hange extended their hand, which Eren shook hesitantly. “Nice to meet you too…” He mumbled in reply. “So, Eren Jaeger… what do you want? A coffee, perhaps? Or a muffin? Ooh, I was going to bake a cake… Wanna help me?”

_Would it be rude to decline? Well, obviously._

“U-um…” “I thought of making a strawberry short cake, because the people who live here don’t really seem to like it; Erwin lets me have it instead. So that’s a win!” Hange gave themselves a high-five, and Eren tilted his head slightly. “Mhm.” He hummed. “We could also make a chocolate cake- or wait! A strawberry short cake with chocolate cake. People here are quite picky, so they’ll probably just ignore it, like usually. But you know what they say; what the eye can't see, the heart won't grieve over, am I right?” The chatterbox exclaimed with a shrug.

Eren opened his mouth, but he was too shy to ask where Levi was. Maybe, if he stayed here a little longer, he’ll arrive in an hour or so. “A-alright. I’ll help you.” He nodded with a serene smile, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sweeeet. Let’s go to the kitchen, then.” Hange beamed and dragged Eren to the hallway. They passed a few doors, but stopped at a familiar-looking one. Right. The college student had been here before, of course; when he had burned his hand.

“Here it is…” Hange swung the door open and looked around. “Ah.” Hange said while scratching their temple. “I may or may not have forgotten to clean up...” They said with a sheepish grin. It looked as if the kitchen had exploded. There was flour everywhere, the tap was still running and there was an unpleasant, smoky smell filling Eren’s nostrils.

“…I see.” He nodded slowly as Hange quickly took a few steps to the washbasin to turn the tap off. “No worries! Let me uh, clean this up real quick.” Within no time, they had cleaned it up. “Alright… so a chocolate cake inside of a strawberry shortcake… should we take the short cake or chocolate cake recipe for that?” Hange frowned and grabbed a small pocket.

_Wait, we are actually going to make that?_

“Maybe we should use the chocolate cake recipe for like, the dough and all… And the decoration and such of the strawberry short cake.” Eren suggested in a quiet voice. “Mhm… Sounds good.” Hange gave a nod and wrote some things down.

“Okay… so this is what we need for the strawberry shortcake part, and this is what we need for the chocolate cake part… hmm… Oh, noooo… We’re all out of baking soda and flour…” Hange mused as they stood in front of the fridge. “I’ll go get some real quick, okay?” They decided as they looked at Eren with a grin. Wait, what? “I’ll be back within 15 minutes. So if you just…” Hange reached for the coat hanger behind Eren and pulled a dark green apron from it. “…put this on, everyone will just think you’re someone who works here.” They continued as they pulled the apron over Eren’s slender neck, and quickly tied it.

“Alright.” Hange dragged Eren with them, to the counter, and skipped to the exit. “Be right back!” They sang and disappeared. Hold on, hold on.

_What had just happened? Hange left me here…all alone? Without even telling me what to do?_

Eren was so scared he thought was going to freak out. He looked down at his apron. Before he could’ve even said ‘no’ or anything, Hange had just left! What if…What if someone came in right now? Wanted to order something? Eren bit down on his bottom lip and felt like crying. He nervously rubbed his palms together and took shallow breaths. He closed his eyes. Damnit! What if someone from school walked in? Or even worse, some rude customer… That’s a lot of ‘What If’s, huh… Then again, it could also be Levi. That made Eren relax slightly. But still. He looked at his hands, which rested on the wooden counter and who shook terribly. “Just calm down already… Hange said there hadn’t been much customers at all, plus it was still early.” He spoke sternly, trying to calm himself down.

_Exactly. It’s still early, so anyone could still come in._

And just like that, the bell jingled. Eren froze to his spot, his hands shaking violently.

Oh fuck no.

Please no.

_Maybe it was Levi._

Eren turned to the door as slowly as possible. It wasn’t Levi. A tall man with dark blond hair stepped inside of the café. He had been looking down the entire 2 seconds he had been here, but he finally looked at Eren, who was still completely and utterly frozen. The man opened his mouth to say something, but closed as he noticed Eren. He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Who are you?” The man asked.

_Oh god. Was he a regular?_

“I-I’m Eren J-Jaeger.” The boy stammered. The man tilted his head. “I don’t know you.” He said blankly. Eren nodded shakily. “I know.” He replied shyly. “May I ask what you are doing in my café?” The man raised an eyebrow as he stated his question. His café? “O-oh. Is this your café?” Eren asked, dumbfounded. “Yes, it is.” The man nodded. “O-oh. W-well… Hange and me were going to bake a cake, s-so she’s getting some missing ingredients.” “They.” The man corrected him. “Hange isn’t a she, nor a he.” “Oh.” Eren nodded in understanding.

The man extended his hand. “Erwin. Erwin Smith.” He spoke in a warm tone, his grip firm as Eren shook his hand. “Eren Jaeger.” The other said in a soft tone. “You already told me your name.” Erwin reminded him as he released Eren’s hand. “Right…” The boy gave a sheepish nod and rubbed the back of his neck.

There fell an awkward silence, in which Eren looked at the floor and bit down on his lip. His tense shoulder relaxed. Erwin walked past him, probably to the back. Eren let out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding and fiddled with his fingers. That was so awkward. He felt like sinking into the ground. So… Erwin was the owner of the café, huh… Eren nodded slowly. He seemed kind, but a bit stoic at first. Then again, it must be weird seeing someone you don’t know behind your own counter…

_I wonder what Levi thinks of him…_

The bell jinged again, much louder this time. “I’m back-back ~” Hange sang as they walked in, holding a small bag. “Did you have any customers?” They asked as they placed the bag on the counter. Eren opened his mouth to reply. “See? Told ya. Okay, so I have the ingredients… Erwin will be back in a few hours, so if we make the cake quickly he can’t do anything about it. Plus, he has a soft spot for sweets and all that stuff, so he’ll probably let us eat it if he gets a piece too… now then; let’s make it quickly.” Hange chattered, walking behind the counter to untie Eren’s apron. They didn’t really listen. Hange undid themselves of their coat and hung it over the counter. “Now let’s do it before Erwin retu-” They turned around and gestured for Eren to follow them.

Unfortunately for them, Erwin appeared.

“Aah, Erwin… Didn’t know you’d be back this early.” Hange took a few steps back and grinned nervously. Uh oh… “Hange. Come with me for a second.” Erwin said seriously. “Yup.” Hange nodded and followed Erwin to the back. Eren tried to listen as subtly as possible, but Erwin talks in a such a low voice, so he couldn’t hear it. “I hope they aren’t in big trouble...” The boy with fiercely coloured irises mused. After some time passed, Hange returned, their lips pulled into a wide smile. “We can bake the cake!” They cheered.

“Come on, come on…” Their fingers curled around Eren’s wrist to pull him with them. The student hissed out and jerked his arm back. Ow, ow, ow… “Oh… Sorry, are you okay?” Hange asked worriedly, turning around to look at the other. “I-I’m fine, sorry.” Eren tried to shrug casually, hoping Hange didn’t see his glossy eyes. They paused for a second, eyes scanning the boy with the chocolate brown hair. “Mhm, okay!” They gave a nod and continued to walk. “He doesn’t want to talk about it, probably…” Hange mumbled inaudibly. Eren followed them to the kitchen. Erwin wasn’t there. Maybe he was somewhere else.

“Oh, by the way…” Hange said as they mixed the ingredients together. So far, the preparations want well, and Eren raised an eyebrow as he waited for the other to continue. “Do you want to leave your number behind? I don’t know Levi’s shifts by heart and I forgot to bring my phone with me…” They added, slowly stirring the mix together. “O-oh, sure.” Eren nodded. “Y’know, I’ll let you know when Levi has his shift so you can ask him whatever you wanted to ask him.” Hange pushed their glasses up and poured the mixture into the baking mold. “Yeah.” Eren fiddled with his apron, which Hange insisted they wore again, because it looked ‘professional’.

“Wait a sec.” They shoved the cake in the oven and reached in the pockets of their pants, for a piece of paper and a pen. “Here ya go.” Eren wrote his number down and returned the piece of paper to Hange. “Sweeet. Alright, let’s prepare the decorations and such. We have strawberries and whipped cream… that should be enough, right? Can you wash the strawberries, and maybe cut them?” They asked as they washed their hands. “Oh. Yeah, sure.” Eren gave a nod and washed his hands as well. He washed the strawberries and was given a cutting board and knife by Hange. Eren cut them into slices and placed them all on one plate. “Well doneeee.” The other praised as they started to prepare the whipped cream. “Hm… It’ll take a while for the cake to get all ready and stuff, so let’s talk for a second…” Hange grinned and set the whipped cream aside. “O-oh… Alright…” Eren nodded timidly and leaned against the wall.

“Hmmm… So, Eren Jaeger… Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere right now?” Hange asked knowingly, quirking their eyebrows. The other looked away. “

“Kinda…” A bright red colour spread on Eren’s cheeks. “Now that I think of it… weren’t you here last week? With like, a huge group of students?” They asked curiously, dropping their previous subject. “Oh. Yeah, I was…” Eren nodded, relieved Hange didn’t ask why he skipped school.  
“Hehe….” The person next to him chuckled softly. “H-hm?” The blush on his cheeks deepened after he heard why Hange was laughing. “You were the one staring at Levi, weren’t you?” They smirked slightly and nudged Eren playfully. “Staring..?” He stammered, his heart nearly beating out of his chest.

  
_Was I really staring that much?_

  
“Ooh! Is that why you came to see Levi? Do you have a crush on him?” Hange gasped and clasped a hand over their mouth. “Quit the teasing, Hange.” Erwin stuck his head around the corner, a small smile curving his lips. “Cut the boy some slack.” He added, and with that, he disappeared. Hange laughed and patted Eren’s back. “No hard feelings, right? I was just joking around.” They grinned. The flushed boy nodded and felt like sinking through the ground.

  
_Of course I’m not crushing on Levi!_

“Aah, Shortstacks… I’ve known the guy for quite a while now…” Hange sighed out.

  
_They are probably talking about Levi…_

  
“Basically always annoyed with me. He’s got quite the temper.” They giggled, glancing at the oven to view the cake.  
Levi got a temper? I don’t see that… After all, he has been calm and kind to me…  
“But that’s how you know he cares. It’s a weeeird guy.” Hange shrugged and looked at Eren. “If he gets real angry, you should hide. You don’t want to experience that.” They warned him as the alarm clock went off.

  
_If he gets real angry, you should hide? What do they mean by that?_

  
“A-alright.” Eren gave a brief nod and watched Hange walk towards the oven and opening it. “Okay, so we’ll have to cool this down before we can divide it in three… Let’s say we go to the front?” They suggested as they left the oven slightly open. Eren followed the slightly taller person to the front and saw, till his surprise, a customer walking in. “Oh, good. I passed this café a few times now, but it was empty. I was about to go in to check for myself, but there you guys are. Can I have a cappuccino, please?” The girl smiled sweetly and glanced at Eren. He quickly looked away, a blush dusting his cheeks.

_aah, she's looking._

  
“Ah, of course, of course. Coming up.” Hange grinned back and walked over to the coffee maker. The student stood there awkwardly, fiddling with his fingers. “To go?” They asked as they prepared the cappuccino. “Yes, please.” The girl nodded and gripped her bag a bit tighter. “Thank you.” The girl smiled widely as she took the cup from Hange, her cold, stiff fingertips slowly warming up.

_So this is what it’s like to work here, huh…_

“Oh, by the way…” Hange spun around at the same time as the bell jingled again, announcing that the girl left. “We still have to whip the cream. Let’s go.” They said as they ran off to the kitchen. Eren sighed briefly and followed them. By the time Eren reached the kitchen(he had been walking extremely slow), Hange was already preparing the whipped cream. “Can you take the cake out? We should be able to slice it in three now…” They asked, nodding their head towards the oven.

“Oh, sure.” The other walked over to the oven and reached out for the cake. “Owww…” He murmured as he accidentally touched the side of the oven. “Uh oh, did you burn yourself?” Hange asked worriedly, standing next to him. “Y-yeah, I guess. But I’m fine, don’t worry.” Eren smiled timidly but walked to the tap nevertheless, holding his now slightly red fingers under the pleasantly cold water.

“We have some burn-band aids right here. Oh, we only have one left…” Hange stood on their tiptoes and peeked into a box. “They should soothe the pain.” Hange handed one band aid over. It had this gel-like substance underneath the band aid, and Eren wrapped it around the most burning finger. “Thank you…” He mumbled, closing the tap. “I’ll take the cake out for you.” Hange said as they took out the cake, placing it on the table. “Alright… Do you want to cut it, or should I do it?” They asked, voice slightly muffled due to the sound of the cream getting whipped. “C-can you do it?” Eren replied softly, seeing as he never did something like that before.

“Sure thing.” Hange chimed, turning the mixer off. The whipped cream was done. “Alright…” They divided the cake in three layers and grinned proudly. “Allllllll done. Could you grab the strawberries?” They asked Eren, who grabbed them immediately. “Okay, now then,” Hange grabbed two spoons and handed one over to the student next to her. “what you need to do is…” They took a spoonful of whipped cream and spread it all over the first layer of chocolate cake. “Spread it carefully and evenly. That’s it.” Hange explained, dropping their spoon in the bowl of whipped cream. “While you do the next layer, I’m going to pay the restroom a quick visit…” And they were gone.

Eren bit down on his lower lip and scooped some whipped cream onto the next layer, carefully spreading it out. It was quite easy, actually. Eren even finished the last layer, and that’s when Hange returned. “Sweeeeeet.” They cheered as they stood next to Eren. “Good job.” They patted his shoulder and grinned. The boy’s cheeks burned slightly at the praise, and he gave a small shrug. “Now we just throw some strawberries on top, and we’re done!” Hange smiled brightly and grabbed the bowl of strawberries.

They worked in silence, spreading the strawberries like they did with the whipped cream. “Sweet.” Hange gave Eren a high-five and carefully placed each layer on the other. “Now I guess I’m going to place it in the fridge for a few days… Make sure you come by, okay?” They prodded their index finger against Eren’s chest and laughed. “Mhm.” Eren nodded, cheeks still burning.

“Smell ya later, then! Do make your homework!” Hange yelled after him as he was on his way home. Eren turned around, waved briefly and smiled.

_Was I… Was I having fun?_

Eren wasn’t sure of that as he walked back to his apartment. Maybe he was… but was it alright to have fun? He frowned, gripping the plastic bag, filled with blueberry muffins, tightly. “Take it as a token of my appreciation!” Hange had grinned and pushed the bag into Eren’s hand, ignoring his polite decline. With a soft sigh, the now exhausted boy pushed the door of his apartment open. He closed the door behind him and walked to the kitchen.

Eren placed the blueberry muffins on top of the kitchen island and counted them. “Jesus Christ…” He murmured as he came to the conclusion Hange just gave him 15 blueberry muffins. He filled an empty bowl with the muffins and placed it on the kitchen table. Realising he had his phone off the entire time, Eren grabbed the device and turned it on. Immediately, it began to buzz violently. “Uh oh.” He mumbled as he took a careful look at his screen.

_(3) missed calls from Armin_

Before calling his best friend back, he opened his text messages.

_Armin: Eren, where are you???_

_Armin: Are you alright, Eren?_

_Armin: Eren, it’s not funny anymore. Answer your phone!_

_Armin: should I be worried?_

_Armin: You know I’m always here to talk, okay?_

Eren scrolled through all the texts with a guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He should’ve let someone know he wasn’t going to class today. Armin had been worrying for nothing. The boy bit down on his lower lip and quickly dialled his number.

Armin answered immediately.

“Eren!” He breathed out in the phone. “Hi, Armin…” Eren replied sheepishly. “Where _were_ you? We were all worried sick!” Armin spoke in a tight voice, as if he was on the verge of tears. “Hey, I’m alright. I just didn’t feel like going to my classes today. I’m tired.” The other replied with a soft laugh, trying to calm his friend down.

_That wasn’t even a lie._

“You could’ve just replied to your texts or answer your door when we rang it! Really, Eren, I’m dead serious. We all care about you, okay?” Armin said, all in one breath. Eren blinked.

_Did he just say… That he cared?_

_Bullshit, Eren. Bullshit. No one really cares about you, remember?_

“Yeah… Sorry.” He mumbled after a brief silence, realising he had to reply. “It’s okay. Do you want me to come over? I can make you some chicken soup, if you’re not feeling well… It’s my grandma’s recipe, always works.” Armin offered kindly, a smile seeping through his voice.

“Oh. No, thank you. I think I’m just going to take a nap… I’m still really tired.” Eren didn’t even have to lie. “Alright. I am glad you’re okay, Eren. See you!” Armin chimed. “Bye…” His friend replied. After he hung up, Eren collapsed onto the couch with a groan.

_I really don’t deserve a friend like Armin._

_No, you don’t._

***

“I got Eren Jaeger’s number. Oh, and I baked a cake with him!”

“You _what_?” Levi said in disbelief, his eyes widening. “Yup. Are you proud of me?” Hange grinned and waved the piece of paper in front of their co-worker’s eyes. “Hange, I- What were you even thinking? That boy has classes to attend, for fuck’s sake!” Levi snapped, throwing his hands in the air. “Shh, be a bit more quiet, will you? Unlike yesterday, we have some customer.” Was Hange petty reply. Levi narrowed his eyes. “It was his choice to stay here.” They gave a shrug. “Plus, I don’t think he would’ve listened if I told him to go back to go to his classes.” They added, drumming their fingers on the wooden counter.

_Yeah, that sounds very Eren-like, for as far as I know him._

“And can you please explain to me why on fucking earth you wanted his number? That’s fucking creepy, Hange.” Levi continued, crossing his arms. “Well…” Hange shrugged again. “He said he came here for you, so I said I didn’t know when you had your shifts, so I could get his number and give it to you, because _come on_ , you know you want it.” Was Hange simply reply. Levi let out a sound in between a groan and a sigh. “So we baked a cake, I had to get some missing ingredients, and-”

_He came here for…me?_

“Hold on, hold on. Where was Eren when that happened?” Levi gave the person in front of him a _don’t-tell-me-you-fucking-left-him-here-_ look. “He stayed here.” Hange gave another of their careless shrugs. “My, my, I am very generous with my shrugging today.” They noted randomly. Levi groaned and buried his face in his hands. “It went fine.” Hange rolled their eyes at Levi’s reaction. “I just got scolded by Erwin for leaving someone he doesn’t know here.” They grinned sheepishly. “That’s your karma.” The man frowned slightly as he thought of the younger boy.

_Fucking Hange… Eren must’ve felt so uncomfortable…_

“Soooo? Aren’t you going to save your beloved Eren’s number, shortstacks?” Hange wiggled with their eyebrows. “Hand it over. I will text him an apology.” Levi said bluntly, snatching the paper from his friend’s fingers. “Hehe. I thought so.” They grinned and turned to their new customer.

Levi wasted no time on ‘going to the restroom’ and impatiently pulled his phone from his pocket. He saved Eren’s number and decided to, like he stated before, send him an apology for Hange’s extremely fucking rude behaviour.

_Hey, Eren… It’s me, Levi._

Levi scoffed. Too formal.

_Oi, Eren. Levi here._

“Tch.”

_Eren. This is Levi._

Levi cringed internally.

_Brat. It’s me, Levi._

Now that sounded more like it… Okay, now for the rest of the message…

_Hange gave me your number, so I decided to text you. I’m sorry for Hange’s behaviour, they’re very…eccentric. If they let you do anything you didn’t like, just tell me and I’ll make sure they’ll regret it. But Hange said you wanted to…see me? I’ll send you a screenshot of my work-schedule, if that’s alright with you._

_Levi._

Before he could regret anything, Levi hit send. Of course, the regret crashed down on him one second later. “Brat? Did I really just…” The dark-haired cringed again, burying his hands in his hair. However, a buzz made him jump, and he quickly entangled his fingers from his hair.

_Eren: Haha, it’s alright. You make it sound like rape, lol. And uh, yeah, a screenshot’s fine._

Levi’s heart made a weird leap. Excuse me, what?

_Ah, I see. I’ll send you the schedule._

See? Now that Levi glanced at his previous text, it did look as if Hange had been forcing Eren to some… sexual activities of some sort. He laughed briefly and send the schedule.

Eren and him texted throughout the entire day, eventually bidding each other a good night.

Levi was sure of one thing; he never met someone like Eren before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mhm so what do you think? i wanted hange to meet eren properly and vice versa, so here ya go ;)  
> xx


	6. Faded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i really need some coffee and it's in my thermos right next to me but when i tried to open it coffee seeped onto the table and apparently i didn't close it well and ahhh i'm in a public bookstore writing this chapter so heLP

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHEWWW I HAVENT UPDATED IN A LOOOOOOONG TIME  
> i'm sorry ahh  
> i had more tests than i ever had before and school has just been stressing me out ueshfu  
> on the slightly brighter side: i can update more soon :)  
> so stay tuned!  
> i hope uuuuu enjoy this chapter freshly written by the #1 uta stan, hes amazing uwu

The following days at work were exhausting. There were a lot of customers, causing Levi to be unable to go to his spot at the river; mainly because he hardly had breaks. Hange was thrilled with the amount of customers that came by daily, and they didn’t bother to hide it.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it, Levi? Just amazing.” They said for what felt like the thousandth time, causing the other to sigh deeply. “Amazing.” He replied flatly, fingertips drumming on the wooden counter. “I know, right? Although- well, having no customers at all can be fun too.” Hange’s eyes sparkled and they wiggled their eyebrows. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Because you believe that having no customers is a sign Eren might stop by again. I know all about it.” Levi rolled his eyes and earned an enthusiastic nod from his co-worker.

“He still has to pick his cake up.” They murmured to themselves, frowning slightly. “Hey, don’t you have the piece of paper with his number?” Hange gasped and snapped their head in Levi’s direction, who quickly raised his hands in surrender. “Lost it. And I didn’t save his number.” That was a lie. In fact, they had been texting a lot for the past days. And Levi did save his number, of course. Under the name; ‘brat’

“Bummer.” Hange pouted and walked towards an empty table, gathering all the cups and plates. “Maybe he’ll stop by soon.” They looked at the clock. “You can take your break now.” They smiled and placed the dishes in the sink. Levi tilted his head slightly. “It’s only 1 pm.” He stated, seeing as his break started at 2 pm. Hange shrugged. “Here.” They handed him a package, which was seemingly filled with sandwiches. “Don’t forget your coffee and car keys.” They tossed the keys towards Levi, who caught them, obviously surprised.

“Hange-”

“You haven’t been to the bridge in a while, am I right? I’m giving you an extra hour.”

_Hange was officially the best._

“Will you…” Levi didn’t even have to finish his sentence. “I’ll be fine.” Hange gave a careless wave of their hands. “But it’s busy.” The other argued. “Levi.” The taller person raised an eyebrow and practically kicked Levi out. He sighed deeply. Hange was a great friend, really.

He drove through the woods, the familiar, earthy pathway and past the river. Levi parked his car on top of the hill and got out, grabbing his lunch. For some strange reason, it was as if Eren could appear any second, just sitting on the bridge, feet dangling above the river. Then he’d get up, spread his arms. Breathe in. Close his eyes. Maybe silently saying goodbye. But then Levi would step in, and he would, no matter how many times, save Eren.

But Levi snapped out of it, shaking his head furiously. He climbed onto the bridge and took a deep breath. He unwrapped his sandwiches and ate them, chewing slowly. He looked down at the river and let his feet sway back and forth like he always did. But this time, he felt dizzy. With a frown, Levi leaned forward, but the dizziness only worsened, tingling in his lower stomach. “Huh…” He mumbled, staring at the river.

“Maybe it’s because I haven’t been here since…” He nodded. That must be it.

So he hopped off, sitting with his back against the inside of the bridge. He fished his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his text history with… Well, Eren. Involuntary, Levi smiled, leaning the back of his head against the stone bridge behind him. Oh, he had a new text…

_Brat: Random question, but what’s your favourite movie?_

Levi replied immediately.

_You: Harry Potter, of course._

_Brat: Good choice._

_You: Yours?_

_Brat: Probably one of Miyazaki’s movies. Are you familiar with him?_

_You: Doesn’t he make those cartoon movies?_

_Brat: *Anime._

_You: Ah, right._

_You: But the Harry Potter movies are still the best ever made._

_Brat: I prefer the books._

_You: Oh? Never read them._

_Brat: …Excuse me?_

_You: Well, maybe the first. And the second._

_Brat: You need to read them. Like, I insist._

Levi laughed at that.

_You: Hmm, I don’t know._

_Brat: You can just borrow them from the library._

How cute. He really wanted him to read it.

Excuse me, cute?

_Levi: I’m a bit busy, sorry :/_

_Brat: I can let you borrow mine?_

_You: If you want to. But yeah, that’d be cool._

_Brat: I stop by at the Legion and give them to you if you’re okay with that._

_You: Hange will love that._

_Brat: And you?_

_You: You don’t even have to ask._

So Levi hurried the fuck up and ran towards his car, probably going past the speed limit as he drove back, but who the fuck cares? “I’m back.” He panted, pushing the door open. Everyone looked at him, including Hange. Eren wasn’t there yet. “Eh?” Hange reached out for a cup and dried it. “You still have time left.” They noted as Levi quickly slipped into his apron. “Yeah, but- I already finished my lunch, so…” he shrugged. If he told Hange the real reason, they would most likely tease him about it.

Then again, Eren could come in any minute, so there wasn’t much of a difference.

“Okay!” Hange flashed him a grin and left to another table, taking in a boy’s order. Levi prepared coffee, poured in tea and brought slices of cake and blueberry muffins to several tables and _god fucking damn it where is Eren?_

“ERENNNNN.”

_Ah, there he is._

“O-oh, um, hi Hange.” Eren stammered, clearly startled by the warm welcome. Levi glanced at his, well, friend? “Where have you been- why didn’t you come by for the cake? Oh, and what’s that in your bag?” Hange bombarded the poor boy with a ton of questions. Some students giggled. “Books.” Eren granted them a small smile and held the bag so that they could peek inside. “Are you gonna read all of that?” Hange asked curiously, counting 7 books. “Oh, no.” Eren laughed quietly.

_Badumpbadumpbadumpbadumpbadump._

“Calm down,” Levi muttered to himself, afraid his heart might escape his ribcage. “It’s for Levi. He hasn’t read them yet.” The younger explained, causing Hange’s head to snap towards their co-worker. “I see.” Apparently, they put two and two together. Hange’s lips curled up into a smirk. “Well, he’s right there.” They nodded towards Levi and rushed towards a table.

“Hi.” Eren smiled sweetly and shyly came up to Levi. “Hello.” The older replied,

leaning against the wall. “So you really brought the books, huh?” Levi commented, smirking slightly. Eren blushed lightly, but restrained himself. “At least I read them.” Was his salty response, making the other laugh out loud. “Thanks. I’ll return them to you as soon as I finished reading them.” Levi smiled and reached out to ruffle Eren’s hair, but the boy stiffened as soon as he did so, so he lowered his hand and frowned slightly.

Eren was busy digging into his bag so Levi made a mental note: _No sudden movements._

“I know you said you already read the first two books, but uh, I still took them with me.” Eren stated, forcing a smile. “I see. That’s good.” Levi nodded, grabbing the first novel he saw. “That’s my favourite.” Eren’s eyes lit up and he grinned. “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban… Which part is this?” Levi asked curiously, flipping the book so he could read the summary on the back. “Part three,” Eren answered, supressing a yawn.

“Tired?” The shorter man glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. “A bit.” Was Eren’s simple reply. Levi browsed through the pages, reading small parts of some chapters. “Erennnn!” Hange _flew_ towards them all of a sudden, hastily setting aside some cups. “Let me grab the cake before you leave!” They winked and disappeared into the back. Levi shrugged and placed the cups in the washbasin.

Eren smiled to himself and handed the bag over, sticking his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “Here ya go! It’s pretty good.” Hange came back with a paper bag, pushed it into Eren’s hands and grinned widely. “Thank you.” A pink blush spread across his cheeks as he smiled bashfully. “See you around, Eren.” Hange waved. “Yep. Bye.” Eren waved back and turned around to leave. Levi felt a sting of disappointment, for some strange, strange reason.

But then, the student turned around, teal-coloured eyes meeting ones made out of steel. “Bye, Levi.” Eren smiled slightly and raised his free hand. Levi blinked. “Bye.” He smiled back, resting his elbows on the counter. And then he was gone.

There was a moment of silence between Hange and Levi. “So you already finished your lunch, huh?” Hange grinned smugly.

“Shut up.”

* * *

 

As soon as Eren left the coffee shop, he breathed out in relief. He didn’t fuck up. his fingers clenched around the upper part of the paper bag, scared that he might drop it if he didn’t do that. Eren adjusted his headphones and put on some music. He decided he was going to walk home and stop by the local supermarket for some groceries.

When Eren headed out of the supermarket, it was around 2 pm. He sighed deeply and walked home. “Hm?” He received a text.

_Levi: Hange wants to know what you think of the cake._

Eren smiled. He stopped walking. He looked at the paper bag, which he placed into the plastic bag where all the other groceries were in and quickly walked to a bench. Eren took out the paper bag and broke off a small piece of cake. The whipped cream got everywhere, and the strawberries fell in his lap, but it tasted surprisingly _good_. So good that he took another piece, chewing carefully, wanting to eat it as slowly as possible.

“Ah, it’s my lucky day.” He murmured, fishing out a few napkins from the bag. He scooped up the spilled strawberries and cream and threw the napkin away. Eren grabbed a hold of his phone.

_{ 2:03 pm }_

_You: it tastes great :)_

And so Eren arrived home. He neatly stored all the food in the fridge and the kitchen cupboards and sunk down on the couch. Maybe Levi replied. “Probably not.” He mumbled to himself, retrieving his phone from his pocket. “Oh.” Eren raised his eyebrows and unlocked his phone.

_{ 2:05 }_

_Levi: IM GLAD_

_Levi: sorry, that was Hange_

_{ 2:23 }_

_You: lol_

_You: I didn’t expect it to be that good, to be honest._

Levi replied instantly.

_Levi: Huh. I guess I’ll have a taste myself, then._

_Levi: Never mind. There’s nothing left._

_Eren: Aw rip_

_Eren: Levi, can I tell you something?_

_Levi: Sure._

 

_Eren: I like you_

**_Not sent._ **

 

 _Eren: Nvm, it's nothing :)_  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudo's are much appreciated ;)))  
> ooF eren should just confess doesnt he  
> also does anyone here read the tokyo ghoul manga and is in for a RANT ABOUT HIDE BECAUSE FUCCC


	7. a/n

hi guys,

 

i sincerely apologise for not updating in so long! school has been stressing me out a lot, and i barely have free time, and then there’s thing called ‘no inspiration’ chasing my ass as well. even so, i hope to update soon!

 

please bare with me

 

x


	8. Whipped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> levi had about five close friends; erwin, hange, petra, isabelle and farlan. he’s considering adding a sixth member to the club.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR LEAVING YOU GUYS HANGING FOR THIS LONG HHH  
> BUT!! going offline really helped me and guess who just had a whole convo with her teachers about passing her year? this bitch :D  
> also do any kpop fans read this story?  
> becAUSE OH MY I MIGHT GO TO THE BTS WORLD TOUR????????????????????????  
> also slight? spoilers for the movie Ready Player One  
> xx

It was 3 am when the door of The Legion swung open and a breathless Eren burst in. Levi looked up from his magazine and raised an eyebrow. His lips curled up into an amused smile. “Hi,” Eren panted, stumbling towards the counter to lean on it. “Good morning,” The elder closed the magazine and looked up at his friend. “how nice of you to visit me this early in the afternoon.” He continued, yawning slightly. “Yeah. I got your text and I- well, made my way over as soon as possible. I also came to tell you something.” Eren spoke very quickly, but it didn’t take Levi any effort to keep up.

“Oh? Tell me.” He said, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

“On this exact day,” Eren begun, shrugging his coat off and taking a seat at the bar. “it’s two months ago we met.” He finished, smiling so widely his eyes crinkled.

Levi’s stupid heart skipped a beat.

“Ah, I see. You keep track of that?” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows. Eren’s face flushed. “Well, I- yeah. I do.” He stammered, looking away. Was that a stupid thing to do? “Is it… sorry. Is that weird?” Eren glanced at Levi, eyes big and innocent.

Levi’s heart skipped another beat.

“No, I was just messing with you. It’s cute.” He chuckled, shaking his head lightly. Eren got even more flustered. “Anyway, what can I make you? Espresso? A caramel latte?” Levi asked, yawning once again. “Just the usual, please.” Eren answered, rubbing his hands together. Spring was slowly making its appearance, but it was still quite cold in Sina.

Levi had finished making Eren’s coffee and placed it down in front of him. “Are you the only one working right now?” he asked, blowing on his drink. “No, Erwin’s in the back. He’ll join me when it becomes too busy for me to handle alone, but today seems to be a calm day.” Levi explained, leaning on the counter with his elbows.

Ah, Erwin. The first (and only) time he and Eren had met, it had been _very_ awkward. “Which reminds me.” Levi pointed at the other with a slight smirk. “Hange told me you guys met. Erwin might look intimidating, but,”

Might?

“he’s a nice guy, don’t worry.” Levi gave a solid nod and turned around. As if he’d planned it, Erwin came through the back door, smiling fondly. “Eren.” He nodded, extending his hand as he leaned over Levi. “Nice to see you again.” Erwin shook Eren’s hand. He had a firm grip. “Yeah, indeed.” The male agreed, his cheeks heating up immediately. Levi scrunched up his face, giving the blond a soft jab with his elbow. “Your full weight is on me.” He complained, causing the male to stand straight.

“Oops. Sorry.” Erwin laughed quietly, giving Levi an apologetic look. “Sorry my ass.” The other replied. Eren looked back and forth between them, his mouth slightly agape. What kind of relationship did they have to be this playfully insulting to each other? Feeling slightly, uncomfortable, he sipped his coffee.

Which was, of course, way too hot.

He erupted in a coughing fit, making Levi and Erwin’s head whip towards the boy. “I’m,” Eren held a hand up. “fine.” He coughed so hard a gag followed. Levi quickly went around the corner to place his hand against the other’s back. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly, rubbing Eren’s back soothingly. “Yeah.” Eren nodded. His eyes were glossy. “Wrong pipe.” He forced a smile onto his lips after he’d finished coughing. Erwin handed him a glass of water, which he accepted timidly.

Levi’s hand burned on Eren’s back.

He was rubbing small circles on his lower back, which was probably meant as something comforting, but it felt like anything but that. Eren gulped his water down and thanked Erwin. The door opened again, followed by a cheerful “Helloo everyone- Hey, Eren!”

Levi looked at the door and rolled his eyes as Hange came strutting in. His hand left Eren’s back, who quickly turned around as well. “Oh. Hi.” He smiled and waved, shifting in his seat. “Good afternoon.” Erwin nodded before tilting his head. “You’re off today. What are you doing here?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, just stopping by. You know I like to do that.” They shrugged, plopping down on a chair next to Eren, turning to him. “Hehe. How are you?” Hange asked, grinning. “Oh, I’m alright,” Levi got up and walked back to his spot behind the counter. “just a little tired.” Eren continued, glancing at Levi. “Ooh. Me too, me too.” Hange agreed, their fingers tapping the counter. “Thankfully for you, you’ve got a break coming up, right?” they asked, to which the other nodded.

“Yup. I need to do a little bit of work, though.” Eren replied. “I also applied to a job, and I’m expecting an e-mail back soon.” He added. “Really?” Levi sounded surprised, which caused Eren to turn to him. “Yup.” He nodded, smiling slightly. “Ooh! What kind of job?” Hange asked excitedly, jumping up and down on their chair. “In the bookstore nearby,” Eren jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “The Wall.” He spoke. Levi gawked at him. “That’s actually the perfect job for you.” He nodded slowly.

“I come there very often, so be prepared for a weekly stop-by.” Levi said jokingly, and Eren laughed with him.

-

Levi’s ‘weekly’ stop-by turned into a daily one as soon as he heard Eren was accepted. Eren worked three days in the week, sometimes on days Levi worked as well. He mainly stood by the counter, helping customers and wrapping the gifts they bought for family or friends. On his first day, of course, Levi visited him, even bought a few books and chatted about it afterwards.

Eren really enjoyed working in the bookstore; it helped him get his mind off of things.

The next day Levi visited as well, and the day after that too. This became a weekly routine. Of course, Eren continued to visit The Legion, and so the pair grew closer and closer.

It was a Thursday, Eren had just gotten out of the bookstore, when he got a message from Levi;

_Yo, the boys n me are going to the movies tonight. Wanna come?_

Eren had no idea who he meant with ‘the boys’, but he assumed it had something do with Erwin(and other friends?), which made his shoulders slump. He typed back his message.

_Which movie?_

He slipped his phone back in his pocket and leaned against the wall of a electronics store, waiting for a reply.

_Ready player one_

Eren’s eyes lit up. he’s been wanting to see the movie since the day it was announced.

_I’m in_

And so, when it was 7 pm, he was waiting in front of the movie theatre. The movie started at 7:30 pm, so Eren was a little early, but that didn’t matter. Soon, he heard a “Hey, Eren.” , and his head shot up. There Levi was, looking rather small next to indeed, Erwin, and another stranger. “This is Mike. Mike, this is Eren.” Levi pointed at the man behind him. “Ah. Nice to meet you.” Eren nodded, raising his hand. “Hi.” Mike replied. He had a nice smile.

“Good evening, Eren.” Erwin nodded, to which Eren replied with a serene smile. “So we’re all good? Let’s go.” Levi walked past Eren, who quickly followed him. Mike and Erwin were talking behind them, so while they were standing in line Eren decided to break the silence. “I’m really excited. This movie’s supposed to be really good.” He smiled, looking over at Levi.

The elder wore a black leather jacket, with equally dark timberlands and olive green skinny jeans. “Yeah?” Levi smiled at Eren. “I’m glad.” He nodded, looking back to the front. “Levi, are you paying?” Mike asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Since I expected you two bastards to be broke, yes, I am.” The male nodded, rolling his eyes. “Oh. I uh, brought my-” “No discussion, brat. I’ll pay.” Levi cut him off, patting his shoulder. “Are you sure?” Eren asked, biting his lip. “Yeah. I was the one who invited you, so I’m the one who should be paying.” Period.

Eren smiled lightly, looking at his feet. “Okay.” He gave in.

Levi also refused to let Eren pay for their popcorn, or drinks. When they took place in their seats, Levi shot Mike and Erwin a dirty look. “Let me sit on your left. Don’t wanna see them eat each other’s faces off.” Levi told Eren, tugging on his upper arm.

Oh.

_Oh._

Eren’s lips parted as he realised it. Mike and Erwin. Erwin and Mike. They were a couple. Eren smiled widely as he nodded, sitting down next to Erwin. Levi quirked an eyebrow at that. “What?” he questioned, tilting his head. Eren continued to grin, shaking his head lightly. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t wipe the happy look off his face. “Nothing. Just excited for the movie.” He explained, causing Levi to nod slowly.

As expected, the movie was great. Eren and Levi had a whole discussion about the ending, and what was going to happen in the future. “Obviously Samantha and Wade will stay together, but someone might come and fuck up The Oasis all over again.” Levi pointed out, to which Eren nodded. “Yeah, I guess. I wonder what will happen to Sho and the others though.” The other replied as they walked out of the theatre. “Yeah? Personally, Aech is my favourite.” Levi yawned. “I really liked Toshiro.” Eren smiled.

Levi quirked an eyebrow. “For real? He wasn’t _that_ amazing.” He shrugged. Eren gasped. “He was awesome, what are you talking about?” He stopped walking. Levi stopped too and looked at Eren. They stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter. Erwin and Mike passed them, hand in hand, shaking their heads amusedly.

That night, even when he lied in bed, Eren still had that giddy feeling flowing through his veins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!! i'm planning on updating soon:))  
> side note: i reread some parts of my story and i saw i referred to hange as 'she' sometimes, and that's because i originally used female pronouns for her, but changed my mind and wanted to make them a non-binary character. i apologise for that  
> ((im also updating the makoharu fanfic soon, so please stay tuned:))  
> x


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